Here is the situation. Your shop has started to use a line of value/economy pads from a local supplier. Prices are great, coverage is decent and they appear to be decent quality. But, you might get a vehicle in that does like this line of pads. It could be noise, pulsation or even delamination. The customer is not happy, you are not happy.

So what happened?

Some economy brake pad manufacturers use only a handful of friction material formulations across an entire product line. Some premium lines may have 25 to 30 friction formulas to cover an entire line. While the economy line may only five to 10 formulations. This means that the same friction material may be used on a SUV and compact car, the only thing they change is the backing plate. This can lead to compromises and may even influence the braking balance front to rear if all the brake pads are not changed.

By having fewer friction formulations in a line, the costs can be reduced significantly. It is like when you go shopping for clothes, higher end shirts will have more sizes like x-small to 5XLT. While the shirt sizes at WalMart will only go from small to XXL.

Like people, all brakes are not the same. Some require a special size that may only come in a premium line.